Nothing Can Cure
by Seven is Me
Summary: A darker QuiGon and ObiWan story written for the Quotations Roullette Chalenge. Please enjoy.


**Nothing Can Cure**  
By: Seven  
Specail Thanks: To my Master for helping me decide what to do with this puppy.  
For: The Quotations Roulette Challenge  
Quote: #138 "Nothing can cure the soul but the senses, just as nothing can cure the senses but the soul." -Oscar Wilde  
Genre: Pre-AU ...At least I think so...  
A fair warning: This is fairly long, and nowhere near as lighthearted as most of my work. But you will read anyway... right? 

zZz

Qui-Gon looked on helplessly as his Padawan drifted endlessly in the _between_ state. The elder Master was all but in pieces, tired and worn over the last trying session of missions.

Once again, the Master of the pair seemed to have failed his young charge. It seemed that no matter how he tried, the man simply couldn't keep the boy safe. Qui-Gon had more than once felt driven to the edge of insanity by the extreme aptness of his apprentice to get into the most dangerous situations without trying or wanting to.

So, once again the big Jedi was sitting at his apprentice's side, while the tiny boy was left drifting. Drifting it seemed, in between his Master, and the Force.

The Master hoped desperately that the child would return to him. After the child- no. After _his_ child had once again been wounded, they had been forced to flee. Qui-Gon had taken his fallen child, and soared off into space, only to be dragged out of hyper space a few hours later, attacked by pirates.

Obi-Wan had typically awakened for the battle, just long enough to stress his injuries, cause new ones, bang himself around, save the day, and pass out once again.

Now, the Jedi Master was sitting around, feeling incredibly useless, while waiting for his child to heal, and their ship to get all the necessary repairs. Not that the Moons of Iego weren't beautiful. In fact, it was quite the contrary. They were beautiful beyond words. Etasa, the moon upon which they currently resided, was encompassed in eternal night. The planet sheltering it from any form of light, save that of its sister moons. It lived on the soft forms of radiation that could pass through Iego's rather unique minerals.

The people, now they were a sight onto themselves. 'Angels', humans called them. A name, if he recalled, was from old human legends, whose sources were long forgotten. Pale beings with wings, who built tall spires with one way in our out. Large bay windows that left non native inhabitants up in the air. Literally.

"Master Jedi?" A soft voice queried gently into his thoughts.

The elder human started badly. He never got used to their odd way of entering a room, sliding in on silent wings, so not even Jedi senses could detect them.

Sometimes he nearly wanted to curse them. All were Force sensitive to some degree, beautiful beyond any doubt, and very nearly immortal. And with his most precious child laying there in one of their plentiful, yet nearly unnecessary healing wards, it was difficult not to wish them all some kind of harm. He tired to ignore this new being in room. 

'_Please_... just go _away_!' The Jedi fumed within his own mind.

The being merely cocked her head to the side. "Now, now, Master Jedi... There's no need for that kind of reception. I'm merely here to check on the boy." She said from the large window doors from which she had just swept in upon her silver tinged wings.

"You call him a boy, Lady..."

"Azure, Master Jedi."

"Yet, you look not a day older than he."

The celestial child's wings rustled in response. "I am over five millennium old, thank you, give or take a few centuries." Azure informed him curtly.

Jinn blinked at that. Surely, this being could not be that old. She was still fresh in face. Silver hair falling in soft waves, framing a stereotypically angelically carved face. Eyes revealing from whence her name came, piecingly bright as the sky on Coruscant on a clear day. Not but pure blue staring back at him. With a slim yet athletic build that stood before him swathed in the white and silver robes her people seemed to prefer, feet bare save for jingling silver bracelets, to any other traveller she would have been a sight to behold.

"My apologies, Lady Azure."

"Please call me Friend. There is no need for barriers, such as protocol, to come between us. Especially when there is something much more deserving of our time." The silver haired woman-child answered. "Child Obi-Wan is more important."

"Can you tell me what's wrong with him?" Jinn asked, wanting to burst. They had been here nearly a full month, with nothing but, until now, silent Angels coming and going from his child's rooms.

"Has no one else done this?" The startled Celestial asked. "Surely somebody... but you may not have heard..." 

"What?" Jinn demanded, more than gently irritated. "How is that?" He asked the Angel who took a seat next to the Master's.

"Master Jedi-" 

"Please, Friend Azure, grant me the same kindness..." He said, slumping bonelessly into his seat.

A moonlight pale hand rested upon his shoulder, easing the Jedi, letting him know that she understood his emotions boiling underneath the surface of his over tired mind. "Celestials speak with our minds. Bound together with the grace of the Most High. What you Jedi call, the Power?"

Jinn smiled wanly at the error. "The Force."

"Ah." She mumbled. "We use the Force, to do almost everything. Surely you had noticed?"

"Yes..." The Master grumbled. "The Force vibrates constantly here. Sings with a voice rivaled only by your own choirs perhaps. It makes my head hurt... if I might be so frank."

The blue child-woman merely smiled. "It is true that many Jedi find our use of the Force overwhelming and frivolous. But it is how we all live, have ever lived, and always will live."

"We wander from the point, Friend Azure."

"Child Obi-Wan is well on his way to recovery. Yet, since we speak directly into the minds of whom we wish to talk, and your shields are raised high against the constant sounds of the Force here..." 

"I understand. The words had bounced, and with my shields so high, I did not even notice." Jinn cut her off. "But tell me, when will Obi-Wan awaken?"

Azure's eyes went dim, and Qui-Gon knew there was something terribly wrong. "Child Obi-Wan should have woken long before now. But-"

Qui-Gon's eyes hardened. "Please Friend Azure, be quick and blunt. I have had enough of vague and shadowed answers."

The Celestial seemed reluctant, but continued anyway. "He is wounded in other ways. His sense of the outside world is failing, with each moment that passes he is falling closer and closer to the Most High, to join those that have passed before him. He falls closer and closer to eternal sleep."

"His senses should be easy to fix!" An irate Jinn countered.

"If it were only this, I would agree. But the boy's soul has also been torn. It's as if he as given up on the very thing that kept air moving in and out of his lungs."

The Master Jedi crumbled then. "Please, Friend Azure..."

"There is still hope, a dark and dangerous one, but it shines its light none the less."

"How?" came the softly spoken demand.

"'Nothing can cure the soul but the senses, just as nothing can cure the senses but the soul,'" Azure quoted gently. "In most cases we may start with one, and then move to the other, but in Child Obi-Wan's case... Both are severely worn. We cannot get a substantial grip on either one to begin the healing that needs to take place for him to return to this plain of existence."

"A circle of events that only worsen themselves, that in no way can be made right..." Jinn smiled grimly to himself.

"I said there was hope." Azure reminded him gently, though with a mountian more caution than seemed healthy when one was about to offer a last hope for life.

"Tell me."

"A binding circle might help." The woman who appeared a child told him. "Placing you within his mind, calling out to him, seeking him, his very heart within all that pain... to cure both of his senses and soul, while potentially destroying your own." 

"How?"

Azure looked back at him stunned. "Surely you can not wish to do this... you could both be lost. And Child Obi-Wan would not-"

"I will do all in my power to save him." Jinn replied. "Tell me what I must do."

"I must fetch a Master on this matter Friend Jinn-"

"No!" The desperation stopped her from where she was about to fly from the window to fetch a Master Healer. "There is no time. We may already be too late. You must help me. You must guide me! And you must do so _now_!"

"Friend Jinn, this I can not do. This is forbidden." Azure told him gently. "My kin would not look kindly upon me if I did so. For a Celestial to guide one who is not of our kin-"

"You must help him." Jinn pleaded, surprised to hear the note of harsh desperation in his voice. He knew that this woman-child was downplaying the risk she would be taking... but... "Obi-Wan needs help. And he needs it now."

The celestial seemed nearly frightened, but was not. She came to stand near the Master Jedi and his apprentice, two globes of pure white light encircled Azure's hands. She placed both on the Master Jedi's temples. She weaved the circles of what he now understood to be her life force into his own, and formed something reminiscent of the bond he shared with Obi-Wan.

"_Can you hear me?_" whispered across his mind.

"Yes." He answered out loud, before realizing he was meant to speak back mentally as well. "_Yes._"

"_Good. Now, you must travel into your boy's mind. I will guide you as far as I can._" The voice was nearly painfully faint compared to Obi-Wan's, so much so he needed to strain to hear it. "_Enter your bond with the boy, and allow yourself to me..._"

And so Qui-Gon Jinn left his fate in the hands of a Celestial, hoping against hope, that both he and his child would return, back into the arms of this guardian angel. 

zZz

Qui-Gon stared at the terrain that surrounded him. It was black and red. Or more correctly, the soil was hard and black, and stained horribly with blood and pain.

"_Azure!_" He called, "_Where am I?_"

"_You are seeing what Child Obi-Wan sees. You must hurry. There is little time, for the both of you..._" Azure's voice floated back, nearly completely drowned now, he could nearly see her wings shuddering as if in a non-existent breeze in her horror of the scene. "_This is worse than any of us had thought. You must be swift._

"_Call to your child, and follow that which you know to be him, but after you leave this place, I can only pull you out of his mind. And then, Friend Jinn, all will have been lost if the goal is not reached._" 

Jinn was mortified at the very mention of it. "_Do not pull me out until I ask for it._" There was a soft feeling of acknowledgment, and then there was nothing from the blue child except the feeling of her there.

Then Qui-Gon Jinn ran. Ran as fast as he could, following every twinge he could feel of his Obi-Wan.

And then he found him. His child was fighting.

Fighting against the most horrible thing he could ever imagine.

Obi-Wan's heart was split in two; one half was fighting a man that Jinn had never seen before. But his Obi-Wan was calling to him, calling for his brother to come back to him. The other Obi-Wan was fighting, much to his horror, Jinn himself. All four competitors had blades held high, and it seemed that no matter what his child did, that he would lose. And in losing, the most beloved child of his heart would die. And Jinn knew it. Beyond any doubt, that no matter which way this fell, his child would die.

Master Jedi Qui-Gon Jinn fell to his knees and swore in every language he could remember any foul word in. And for the first time, Qui-Gon Jinn despised his duty. For how could a duty that was meant to aid, cause such pain?

In that tiny place in his mind where the whisper bond with the Angel grew insistent. And Jinn knew that the other being that currently shared his mind could feel the wrongness in this too.

Then the Master surged into action. The green blade of his sword blazed into life with a snap-hiss, and Azure, from her silent place in his mind, channeled all the strength she could. Which was very little, though with all things considered, that could be excused. It was, after all, the thought that counted.

First he charged his look alike, not even bothering with the usual Jedi stance of 'defense first', and went straight for the kill.

Two green blades flashed in a dizzying dance of near death. Dodge. Parry. Thrust. Block. Duck. It was disorienting to have to counter moves of a style that was usually only his own. All of the strenghts and all of the weaknesses were present in this shadows style that were in his own. A weakness and advantage...

The spinning of the blades was enough to make even the Jedi Master himself sick, but a little discomfort never did him any harm. Besides, there was something much more important riding on this battle than a planet's fate.

Dodging a blow, he knocked his rival Jinn's chin with a high kick and finished him with a swift blow to the abdomen. 'I'll have to fix that...' Jinn thought as he moved to help the two Obi-Wans now presenting a united front on the one that the Obi-Wans called "Anakin", but who referred to himself as "Darth Vader".

Now, even exhausted to the core, he joined the two reflections of the soul he had invaded to save.

It was terrifyingly magnificent. The twists, turns, and leaps that were made in absolute perfection. Then the Master Jedi realized something that stuck him as rather odd. He knew this young "Darth's" fighting style. It was an odd combination of Obi-Wan's and his own. Strange.

Occurring in a space of time less than it took for lightning to flash across the skies of Kamino, one Obi-Wan felled, the other seemingly too weary in soul continue, drew his sword up, standing as still as a statue with hands gripping the hilt of the still ignited lightsaber at his stomach, blade paralleling his body. Jinn realized with a horrible certainty, that Obi-Wan was now giving into this darkness... this fate that had unjustly claimed his sweet child.

The Darth raised his blade to cut down his beloved boy, and he knew little else in that moment, other than it must be stopped at any cost.

Jinn could feel it, like a ghost upon his skin, the heat of that saber upon Obi-Wan's flesh, but it never got close enough to burn. For the "Anakin" character fell to his feet, green blade held still at the ready in case the dead man proved to be not-so-dead.

"Master?"

"Obi-Wan! You are never to do this again!" Qui-Gon demanded as he swept the younger Jedi into an embrace so fierce that it nearly broke the already beaten body next to his. Not that the Master Jedi was doing any better.

And then time was up.

zZz 

Outside a battle raged as well. Azure stood strong and proud, an archaic silver blade held in her hand as she fended off her kindred. She used a powerful mix of physical power and agility, with a healthy dose of the Force to fend off her own people without harming them. Her own stores of power where running dangerously low, concentrating between this fight, and the fight inside the child of Friend Jinn was exhausting... and she still had to find the strength to pull them out.

After all, what she and Friend Jinn had attempted was forbidden. Nothing but victory in this venture would save her. Her Friend Jedi needed to succeed, and soon. Or all of them would be lost.

Then she felt it... an immense relief flooding from the Friend Master Jedi and the Child Padawan. And she pulled. With all of her might, pulling the two hearts she felt that now beat as one back to her. Back from the very reaches of the Most High, and back to this plain of existence.

That was all she knew, before she fell into the arms of her kin, in a terribly tired heap.

zZz

Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn awoke to the strangest of things. Feathery wings, outstretched in a way that he had only seen the beings of this world do while flying, spread in all their magnificence over him. He recognized Azure immediately, before turning to confirm that the warm spot to his left was his most precious treasure. 

"Master Jedi," Azure whispered gently. "It is good that you have finally decided to rejoin us in the lands of the living. I was afraid that I had hindered you when I pulled you out..." She bowed then, "I apologize for not awaiting your orders as I had promised."

"Nay, Friend Azure, you did well." Qui-Gon smiled, before turning to his padawan. "Has he awoken yet?"

"No, Friend Jinn, Child Obi-Wan has not yet awakened." Seeing the worry flash in the older Jedi's eyes, she hastened to add, "There is nothing to worry about anymore. Your senses and soul have begun the essential healing. With your soul touching his battered senses, and your senses soothing his torn soul, you have saved him. Now, you must rest too, and let me finish what you, Friend Jinn and Child Obi-Wan, have started. Rest now..."

Qui-Gon smiled, "You know... if I felt better, I wouldn't give in to this Force suggestion."

"I know, Friend Jinn. Rest now, and I shall watch over you both." Azure assured. 

Jinn gave her another winning but exhausted smile, and fell once again into blissful slumber.

zZz

Qui-Gon had only just crept from sleep into a musty haze of semi-consciousness when he felt the body next to him move. Coming fully aware in less then a second, He watched as his most beloved child's eyes once again opened to view the physical plain of existence.

"Obi-Wan?"

"Morning Master..." The child whispered, voice hoarse from lack of use in recent days, with a smile on his face. "Thank you for saving me." Then his eyes drifted upwards, to where protective silver wings where still spread. Gently the boy's curious hands reached up to brush soft feathers.

"Welcome," Azure's melodic voice drifted, wings twitching at the gentle touch.

"So you're an Angel?" Obi-Wan asked, eyes wide.

"I am, but I will leave you now." Azure whispered, letting her wings drift back into the cloak-like drape most Angels used while doing everyday things. "Though, if ever you need help from our kind again, feel free to come looking for me, Friend Jinn, Child Obi-Wan."

"Thank you, Friend Azure," Both thanked her from their place on the plush bed as she smiled and turned to the window, and flying out into the eternal night of Iego's moon.

"I like her." Obi-Wan stated surely from where he lay next to his Master. "She's nice."

The elder nodded, and settled back into the covers. "Well, I do think that now is a good time to tell you that you are strictly forbidden from doing that again." 

"Rest assured Master, I have no want to ever do that again..." Obi-Wan muttered.

The Master observed his charge from half closed eyes. "Do you know what happened?" 

It was then that the scars that this had left on his child became apparent. His child began to weep. His son was once again in pain. "Master, please, please, please, don't leave me alone! Promise that even after this ends," The boy gestured wildly in between them, "That you will not leave me alone!" The boy clutched desperately at his rumpled robes. "Please!" 

"You have my word Obi-Wan," Jinn swore solemnly. And he would do all in his power to make this so as well. When they reached the temple, Qui-Gon would put in a petition that he and Obi-Wan remain as a team even after the apprenticeship was over.

His son though, seemed to calm after this, but still shook as if from unseen nightmare. "Promise me one more thing Master?"

"Anything my Obi-Wan. You are my son, and if it is in my power, I shall give it to you."

Obi-Wan blushed at this, but pressed on anyway, "Promise me, that if you ever free any slaves, promise me that you will _not_ make them a Jedi." 

This confused the Master to no end, but before he could even think a coherent answer, Azure one again swept through the large window doors. "Many pardons, Friends Jinn and Obi-Wan," She bowed. "But the other Masters Jedi, that you had requested dispatched have arrived. They are ready to take you home."

Both Jedi smiled. "Thank you Friend Azure, we will go to them now, if that is acceptable." Jinn stated.

"Most certainly." Azure gestured to another Celestial that hovered outside of the balcony doors. "Chael will take you Friend Jinn, and I will take Friend Obi-Wan. Master Jedi Yoda and Master Jedi Windu await at your ship, and are most anxiously waiting for you."

Azure swept Obi-Wan into her arms as she said this, and Chael, carried Qui-Gon much the same way. Both took off from the windows, and soared high above the spires of the Moon City's buildings. Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon were now both ready to see the sites of the moon of eternal night, and both where amazed.

Starlight, and red, pink, and violet light came from Etasa's sister moons. The light night sky bounced playfully, reflecting off of the white, yellow, or blue stones that the Celestials built their homes with.

Even the gardens looked like tiny galaxies, since many of the flowers within them glowed softly with their own light to attract the insects that would keep their population growing. Gold, silver, blue, pink, red, yellow, and any other color either Jedi could think to name sparkled beneath the wings of the celestials.

It was sad when the all too peaceful flight came to an end, as the two Angels landed with no sound in one of the many gardens. Jedi Masters Yoda and Mace Windu stood as still as stone as the winged beings soft feet padded upon the ground with barely a whisper. "Masters Jedi," Both Celestials greeted as Chael placed Qui-Gon upon the ground, though Azure did not relinquish her own charge.

"Can you stand, Friend Obi-Wan?" She asked.

"I don't think so Friend Azure," He blushed.

She nodded, and handed him to his Master, "Do not forget Friend Obi-Wan, Friend Jinn, that if ever you need assistance, the people here are always willing to help." 

After that, the two winged beings took back off into the eternal night, leaving the four Jedi alone.

"Worried, the two of you had us." Yoda muttered as they walked to the ship that would carry them back to the temple.

Mace only shook his head, leading the Master/Padawan pair into their quarters before leaving them with stern orders for them both to rest.

It was right before the Jedi Apprentice fell asleep that he heard the words that he wanted to hear since he had awakened.

"Do not worry Obi-Wan, the force has placed us together. Nothing, no slave, no Jedi or anything else, can change this. None shall come between us. And that is my word." Jinn swore.

Obi-Wan smiled, "Thank you Master." 

And the Force moved.

zZz

Yep. That's it... no more. And I'm sorry for taking up so much of your time.

Thank you for reading!

Seven


End file.
